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Gangwon Province: Finding Directions for Unification

As a German-based foundation that strives for cooperation with North Korea and Korean unification, Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Korea has worked on sharing a German perspective in terms of this topic. Dr. Bernhard Seliger, a representative at HSF Korea, was invited to present his insight on unification at the 2020 KHN Gangwon Future Development Forum held in Chuncheon on December 4. He described the common misunderstandings of German unification and important lessons for Korea.

The opening remark was by Soon Tae Woo, General Secretary in Korea and Her Neighbors (KHN), who welcomed all participants for joining the forum despite the current circumstance. Following Mr. Woo’s speech, the keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Seliger. Dr. Seliger focused not on the “cost of unification” but rather on the great impacts such as the socio-economic benefits of post-unification. There are limited takeaways from Germany since Germany and Korea cannot be easily compared due to geopolitical, ideological and cultural differences. Thus, Dr. Seliger focused on pre-unification time in Germany, in order to emphasize the significance of individuals’ actions. The key actor that led to unification lied in this overlooked dimension where the public constantly communicated and exchanged meetings.

 

Furthermore, Dr. Seliger suggested possible lessons obtained from the German case that can be applied to Gangwon Province. Rather than focusing on mutual benefits, South Korea should approach the North with North Korea’s interests such as the Northen Limit Line, the Peace treaty, and protection from COVID-19. That is, South Korea can financially support North Korea in the fields like the inter-Korean fund, international training programs and scholarships, and environmental projects. Lastly, he advocated the idea “Small is beautiful,” as the bottom-top approach was more successful than any big-scale projects.

 

Check out the article by News Power and CTS news regarding the forum. (Korean)

 

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